I want you to cry too

I don’t know if you’ve seen Secret Millionaire(Sundays 8 p.m. on ABC) or not — but if you haven’t, please watch it. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you that the day after watching — your eyes will be puffy and swollen, your nose still red and you’ll feel as though you ran an emotional marathon and won’t be able to form a complete sentence until the afternoon. When someone asked me what I thought of the first episode, all I could do was blink and shake my head with my jaw dropped.

The basis for the show is that a millionaire goes undercover as a “regular person” and gets dropped into a city/town that could use their monetary help. The secret millionaire is put up in an apartment/house that is usually in the worst part of town and they must live in that community for a whole week, while looking for places to volunteer their time. Ultimately, they will present the places/people they meet who touch their lives and hearts with checks from their own bank accounts at the end of their week-long stay, ensuring the good deeds the people they meet will continue on with some ease.

Johnson with Helen and Ellen

I watched the first episode the other night. It had millionaire Dani Johnson — who was homeless at the age of 21 and a millionaire by 23 — visiting a very depressed area of Knoxville, TN. In the span of just a week, she discovered a “Love Kitchen” — where 82-year-old twins Helen and Ellen serve meals to more than 2,000 impoverished, hungry and/or elderly people a week. Dani then visited a music center that provides free music lessons to less-fortunate children — some of whom have gone on to receive full college scholarships. Then, Dani met with a woman who founded Special Places, an organization that redecorates bedrooms for children with life-threatening illnesses. At the end, each organization was gifted with thousands of Dani’s dollars and as I watched, I was gifted with a runny nose, soaked eyes and an empty tissue box.

There were two other episodes to watch (I was watching on Hulu) but I couldn’t bear any more that night. So, I watched the most recent two episodes last night. Back to back. Oh man — I was sobbing so hard at times that I had to struggle to catch my breath. Good thing no one was around because I am the ugliest crier ever. Just when I thought I escaped the emotional wrath of Extreme Home Makeover, here we go again. But this show is much more inspiring — and realistic. I mean, you might not be able to build someone a house with an elevator and slide in the living room, but you sure can discover places and people in your community to spend some time with.

If it were socially acceptable to wear sunglasses indoors, I’d sooo be wearing them today.

Goose — I totally agree. I was glad when she said, “I have a feeling this will be a long-term relationship” — so they’re free to give more after the show, I assume. Another SM said the same to a man he met. So great.

I can’t do it – lifetime movies make me cry, and they’re ridiculous! I ALMOST watched that Coming Home show that someone mentioned, but the previews alone had me choked up, so I passed. I just can’t do it to myself, those feelings stay with me for too long.

sm — I hear you. That’s exactly how I feel about those animal abuse/animal shelter/ASPCA commercials with Sarah McLachlan songs playing in the background. I can’t watch, the images haunt me. I can’t even listen to Sarah McLachlan anymore!

The tear jerker shows are the new norm. This is what television and even wannabe truth speaking news shows have become (ie: the nightly news), sensationalized, tug at your heart strings, emotional circus’. Either that or Jersey shore TV junk food equivalents. This is what sells ad slots these days. I am guilty of wearing my emotions on my sleeve as well, so these shows have us hook, line, and sinker. Hollywood Producer Bastards!!…I need to read more books so I don’t melt into my chair most nights feeling like I should be doing more to save the world…

@Goose and Amanda – I didn’t realize that they were limited in what they could give. Is it really $100,000? If so, then the bald guy in picture #2 went over – by at least $10,000. And I agree, those twins made me feel lazy too! I was hoping that Dani would give them a little more. I’m hoping that these shows will inspire people to give back to the community that they live in – seeing these depressed areas made me really sad.

I”m so gonna catch this show this Sunday! I cry on basically every episode of Extreme Home Makeover, crap, I even cry on Wife Swap, in fact, I cray often at commericals and don’t get me started on Oprah….Thanks for the new show AMANDA!!!!
OH, the Sarah McLachlan commerical w/the animal abuse, I seriously run out of the room, I can’t look 1 second at any of those eyes. and yes, I do donate to area animal rescue shelters even though I haven’t a dime to spend.

Did any of you criers see the Today show this morning? There was a little girl on there who saved her little sister’s life by pushing her out of the way of a truck, thus being hit herself. She lost a kidney, her spleen, a leg, and broke her neck. But she said “I love my sister more than anything in the whole world” OMG I was bawling.

Something doesn’t seem right about this Dani Johnson character. She claims to have gone from homeless to a millionaire in two years. How does she claim to have done it? Her website doesn’t say, but on the ABC page it states that she started a nutrition company and then a motivational speaking company. Coming from being homeless, there is no way anyone can make that much money that quickly from those two ventures. More likely, she’s made all of her money selling books and giving seminars on how to become a millionaire. If you google “Dani Johnson scam” it has all been googlewashed by her web page and by positive reviews for her product that are all written according to the same style. Her website claims “as seen on” nbc, cnn, cnbc, and npr but on npr I found only one article linking to an external story and nothing beyond the “Secret Millionaire” story from cnn.

I’ve actually seen a few of these. I like the show, but I wish they could give more and have more freedom when choosing groups/people to help. With regard to the OTHER show, I imagine donations are limited because they are (presumably) tax deductions. Also–what about animals/pets and their needs? ^^